Blockbuster

A film that achieves unusually broad commercial success, often through large-scale promotion and wide theatrical release.

Wide release: A distribution strategy that opens a film in many theaters at once. A large opening footprint lets a film reach many audiences simultaneously.
Jaws (film): Steven Spielberg's 1975 thriller about a great white shark that terrorizes a resort town. Its broad summer release and nationwide promotion helped establish the modern blockbuster pattern.
Film franchise: A series of films connected by shared characters, settings, or storylines. Studios use recurring properties to sustain audiences and reduce uncertainty across releases.
Art film: A film shaped chiefly by artistic expression rather than conventional commercial expectations. Art films typically pursue different audiences and priorities than mass-market hits.
High-concept film: A film built around a premise that can be explained and marketed in a few words. A readily communicated premise suits the broad campaigns used for blockbuster releases.
Film marketing: The promotion of films through advertising, publicity, partnerships, and audience outreach. Blockbusters rely on coordinated campaigns to build awareness before release.
The Godfather: Francis Ford Coppola's 1972 crime film about the Corleone family. Its exceptional commercial success showed that major hits could also earn critical prestige.
Hollywood accounting: Film-industry accounting practices used to calculate costs, revenues, and participants' profits. Large gross receipts do not necessarily mean a film reports net profit.
Cult film: A film that develops a devoted following, often outside mainstream popularity. Cult status can endure without the broad initial sales associated with blockbusters.
Summer blockbuster: A major commercial film released during the summer moviegoing season. The blockbuster helped turn summer into a high-stakes release period.

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